From a massive concrete slab to neighbourhood watch: how some N.B. communities are confronting crime

A massive slab of concrete is one New Brunswick business owner's response to crime. For others, it's been launching a tried-and-true approach to increased security: the neighbourhood watch. 

Terry Belliveau, the owner of T&N Liquidators, a business in Beausoleil, a Kent county municipality north of Moncton, a string of thefts in recent months meant a significant hit to the bottom line. 

After a trailer full of goods he valued at around $10,000 was stolen, he put an enormous cement block in front of a remaining trailer. 

"It's frustrating that the police aren't more visible in Notre Dame," he told Radio-Canada in French. "We would like to have help from the RCMP. We would like to have help from the town."

It's part of a series of thefts and break-ins that appear to be plaguing the community over the past few months, and part of a broader concern across New Brunswick, where officials are worried about vigilantism and struggling to provide a consistent police presence in small places. 

Three weeks ago, several dozen residents of Beausoleil and neighbouring communities Champdoré and Maple Hills met with municipal officers and police. The goal was to form a neighbourhood watch for the affected communities.

Beausoleil Mayor Jean Hébert said he has heard from residents that they don't feel safe at home because of ongoing thefts and break-ins.

"Around here, we all think we're safe all the time," he said. "But that's not what's been happening so people have been putting up cameras, lights, alarms and stuff like that."

He said the police are doing what they can, and he hopes the neighbourhood watch will lead to something positive as well. 

"We're trying to have a solution that would work," he said.

"It's not obvious. We don't have a good solution right now but hopefully we'll find something that makes this situation better than it is. People want to be safe at home. That's it."

Beausoleil is partially patrolled by the Shediac RCMP, and partially by the Richibucto RCMP, though Hébert said that does not create any complications.

Ricky Leblond, detachment commander for the Richibucto RCMP, said Notre Dame, part of Beausoleil and the location of Belliveau's business, has been an area of focus for his detachment for a while now, not just in recent weeks.

He said the RCMP has been in contact with residents, and encouraged them to continue to report any incidents so they can be investigated.

"We're continuing our patrols in the area," he said.